Smart Collections

Smart collections automatically include products based on rules you define. Products are added or removed automatically as their data changes.

What Are Smart Collections?

Unlike manual collections where you hand-pick products, smart collections use conditions:

Manual Smart
Hand-picked products Rule-based products
Static membership Dynamic membership
You add/remove Auto add/remove
Good for curated sets Good for categories

Creating a Smart Collection

  1. Open Collection Manager
  2. Click New Collection
  3. Select Smart Collection
  4. Enter collection details
  5. Add one or more rules
  6. Choose rule logic (AND/OR)
  7. Click Create

Rule Components

Each rule has three parts:

1. Column (Field)

What product data to check:

Column Description
Title Product title
Type Product type
Vendor Brand/vendor
Tag Product tags
Price Variant price
Compare At Price Original price
Weight Product weight
Inventory Stock quantity
Variant Title Variant name

2. Relation (Operator)

How to compare:

Relation Used With Example
Equals Text, Numbers Title equals "Blue Shirt"
Not Equals Text, Numbers Vendor not equals "Nike"
Contains Text Title contains "Summer"
Starts With Text Title starts with "New"
Ends With Text SKU ends with "-XL"
Greater Than Numbers Price > 50
Less Than Numbers Inventory < 10

3. Condition (Value)

The value to compare against:

  • Text values: "Summer", "Nike", "sale"
  • Numbers: 50, 100, 0
  • For tags: Just the tag name

Rule Logic

All Conditions (AND)

Product must match ALL rules:

Type equals "Shoes"
AND
Vendor equals "Nike"
AND
Price greater than 100

Result: Only Nike shoes over $100

Any Condition (OR)

Product must match ANY rule:

Tag equals "sale"
OR
Tag equals "clearance"
OR
Tag equals "discount"

Result: Products with any sale-related tag

Rule Examples

By Product Type

Column: Product Type
Relation: Equals
Condition: "T-Shirts"

All products with type "T-Shirts"

By Vendor

Column: Vendor
Relation: Equals
Condition: "Nike"

All Nike products

By Tag

Column: Tag
Relation: Equals
Condition: "bestseller"

Products tagged "bestseller"

By Price Range

Rule 1: Price greater than 50
Rule 2: Price less than 100
Logic: All conditions (AND)

Products priced $50-$100

On Sale Items

Column: Compare At Price
Relation: Greater Than
Condition: 0

Products with a compare-at price (on sale)

Low Stock Alert

Column: Inventory
Relation: Less Than
Condition: 10

Products with less than 10 in stock

New Arrivals (by tag)

Column: Tag
Relation: Equals
Condition: "new-arrival"

Products tagged as new arrivals

Editing Smart Collections

  1. Select the smart collection
  2. Click Edit
  3. Modify rules:
    • Add Rule - New condition
    • Edit Rule - Change existing
    • Delete Rule - Remove condition
  4. Change logic if needed
  5. Click Save

Preview Matches

While editing, click Preview to see which products match current rules.

Complex Rule Sets

Multiple Tags (OR)

For products in multiple categories:

Tag equals "summer" OR
Tag equals "beach" OR
Tag equals "outdoor"

Vendor + Type (AND)

For specific brand categories:

Vendor equals "Nike" AND
Type equals "Running Shoes"

Price + Inventory (AND)

For expensive items in stock:

Price greater than 200 AND
Inventory greater than 0

Smart Collection Best Practices

Do

  1. Use consistent data - Tags, types, vendors must match exactly
  2. Test rules - Preview before saving
  3. Start simple - Begin with one rule, add more as needed
  4. Use tags strategically - Plan tag taxonomy for smart collections
  5. Document rules - Note why rules were set up

Don't

  1. Over-complicate - Too many rules are hard to maintain
  2. Use inconsistent data - "Tshirt" vs "T-Shirt" won't match
  3. Forget case sensitivity - Some rules are case-sensitive
  4. Ignore empty matches - Check rules actually match products

Converting Manual to Smart

You cannot directly convert, but you can:

  1. Note which products are in manual collection
  2. Identify common attributes (type, vendor, tags)
  3. Create smart collection with rules matching those attributes
  4. Delete old manual collection

Limitations

  • Maximum 64 rules per smart collection
  • Rules can only use visible product fields
  • Cannot use "created date" in rules (use tags instead)
  • No nested logic (all AND or all OR, not mixed)

Troubleshooting

"No products match"

  • Check rule spelling (exact match required)
  • Verify products have the required data
  • Try relaxing conditions
  • Check rule logic (AND might be too restrictive)

"Wrong products appearing"

  • Review all rules
  • Check OR logic isn't too broad
  • Verify product data is correct
  • Test with Preview

"Products not updating"

  • Smart collections update automatically
  • May take a few minutes to sync
  • Check product data actually changed
  • Verify no sync errors

"Case sensitivity issues"

  • Tags are case-insensitive in rules
  • Title/vendor may be case-sensitive
  • Use consistent casing in product data

See Also